


Angel's Approval

by chaosruby



Series: The Goddamn Hero [2]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angel Wings, Borderlands: Borderlands 2, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Hyperion, Love, Parent Handsome Jack (Borderlands), Sirens, Tattoos, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-12-27 23:10:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosruby/pseuds/chaosruby
Summary: Being Handsome Jack's new girlfriend may come with some good perks, but how can you care about them when all you want is his daughters approval? You hate what he's done to his daughter, sticking her in a cage, but you're determined to prove that you're not happy about it and to show her all the love she deserves.





	1. Chapter 1 / Meeting Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Mmmkay so I kind of wanted this fic as a cute little fluff intervention to escape the horror of my first Handsome Jack fic (not even sorry for that btw ;)) I am secretly soppy af but am a rubbish fluff writer! Please, enjoy ~

Lying in bed with your eyes closed, yet wide awake, you felt the mattress dip a little to your right. It was the sign that Jack had finally tore himself away from his office to get some well needed rest. Most nights you would go to bed without him in your shared apartment, dozing off until his warm embrace woke you. But tonight, there was something on your mind - something that wouldn't let you succumb to your nightly dreamworld. As his arm wormed it's way under your neck, you turned to face him. He pulled you close to him when he saw you were awake, draping his other arm over to rest on your waist. Jack was seen as the fearsome psychopathic CEO to everyone around you, and yes he could still be very quick tempered or borderline abusive towards you, but he had his sweet moments. It just so happened that the sweeter moments were mostly spent laying in bed, like right now, and you were definitely about to ruin this loving and calm atmosphere by your next few words.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a daughter, Jack?" You questioned him in a gentle tone, yet preparing yourself for a scene.

"Pumpkin, I'm not in the mood." He growled, his grip tightening around you slightly. 

You sigh at his answer, trying to keep yourself comfortable from his crushing hold on you. From the information you had gathered on his daughter, Angel, you knew it would be a tense topic. She was locked away, tethered to a chair, at only 6 years old. Her powers to be used to control technology through the Hyperion network, gather information and to be used for Jack's plans for the future of Hyperion. You didn't know how old she was now, unable to find any decent information on Angel, but you did find her living quarters on Helios (after some real digging through Hyperion's systems). You couldn't believe that your boyfriend could do such a thing to his own little girl, but if you let this repulse you, you also had to be disgusted by his constant murdering and trickery. You weren't even the slightest bit bothered by that, but you couldn't let Angel's unfortunate lifestyle escape your mind. 

"She's your daughter, Jack," You mumbled into his chest, "a part of you, I'd like to see her. We've been together for almost 2 years, I can't believe you kept such a big secret from me."

"She killed her own mother," Jack exclaimed suddenly, you thought you could hear his heart beating ten times faster, "Angel murdered her mother. I noticed you were looking through the data on operation Control Core Angel, I know you found her. There's a lot you still don't know, you can't see her."

"Then tell me..." You whispered, taking his face in your hands, looking deep into his eyes. "Please..."

"I know you think I must be a monster for doing this to my daughter, you think I enslaved Angel. But you don't understand, you didn't see what she did to her mother," He divulged further, "I had to restrain Angel. Keep her away, keep her powers at bay. You see? I had to."

Silence engulfed the room. It was as though you had lost your voice, unable to speak a single word. He truly thought he was doing the right thing. The love for his late wife and daughter was strong, there was no doubt about that. Jack looked down, averting his gaze from you. He pulled your petite hands from his face, burying himself in his pillow. 

"I'm sorry, Jack, I really am," You sighed, "your love for your wife is what made you keep Angel where you know she is safe. But keeping her locked away and using her, the only remaining part of your wife, I- I'm sorry."

You could tell he was clearly very sensitive about the topic of his past life, so you stopped trying to pry. Although it went better than you originally thought, it made your heart burn at the fact that your lover now seemed to be distraught.

After another long silence, Jack let out a slight groan and pulled you closer, burying his face into your neck. 

"You remind me of her sometimes. My ex wife." He whispered, "Stubborn. Fearless. Drop dead gorgeous."

"You're lucky I'm taking that as a compliment, some women would find it offensive." You smiled lightly, placing your hand over his as it held onto your hip.

"Our sex is better though baby, I can promise you that." You could feel him grin cheekily against the soft skin on your neck, making you giggle.

You roll your eyes, and even though he couldn't see the action, he knew that's what you were doing. Jack kissed your neck softly before saying 'goodnight' and his soft snores soon began to make their way to your ears. You remained awake a little while longer, creating a plan. You would visit Angel. You were determined to prove her innocence to Jack, and meet the little girl he loved so much that he had to lock away.

The next day you force yourself out of the comfort of your sheets, not surprised to see Jack had already left to go back to work. He was almost always gone before you woke up. Eager to keep things moving, making sure he was on top of the various events that could happen at any moment. His absence in the mornings hadn't bothered you before, and definitely didn't now as you got dressed quickly and dashed out of the door. There was a fast travel station close to your living quarters, which after a few quick lines of code, enabled you to travel to Angel's whereabouts discreetly. 

Your body reconstructed outside of a large metal door, two Hyperion guards by each side. They were each unsure whether to aim their weapons at you, since they knew who you were. You smiled, being Handsome Jack's girlfriend did save your life on Helios.

"Hi boys, you can let me through. It's alright, bosses orders." You grinned, crossing your arms over your chest, waiting.

"Jack's orders are that nobody is allowed through this door." They chimed in unison.

"Well, today, I will be going through. If you don't let me in within the next five minutes, I am sure Jack will be happy to come and stick a bullet through your brain." You smiled sweetly, shrugging and taking your echo from your hip and pretending to type, "I'll just call him down now, unless..."

The two morons gulped, glancing at each other in fear. One moved towards the control panel, using a special access code, opening the door. With a quick thanks and a small nod of approval, you stepped into the room. The door slammed shut behind you. 

The actual room was much bigger than you had anticipated, but the sight of the small shielded dome in the centre of the room, with a little dark haired girl trapped inside, was alarming. Though spacious, the prison was very dark and dull, it was no place for a child. Wires were wrapped neatly round the walls, tangling together at the top of Angel's chamber to power the equipment that was being used to amplify her power. How could he do that to his own daughter? You couldn't believe it. You knew he was very sensitive and hot headed when it came to his ex wife being mentioned, but seeing his daughter stuck in confinement like this struck a nerve with you. 

You braved a few steps forward, suddenly feeling dreadfully nervous. Dull lights illuminated the way as you got closer to the orange shield in front of you. Your eyes darted around the room, noticing the abundance of camera's and TV screens, before landing on the small figure locked inside their cell. Angel was kneeling on the floor, her head down, seemingly engrossed in the tatty book she held in her hands. You couldn't catch the title of the book from where you were stood, so you edged closer. The book had definitely seen better days, you made a mental note to bring her a new one on your next visit - if this one went well, that is. 

You were now directly next to the barrier that blocked you from getting any closer to Angel, you decided to sit down whilst you thought about your next move. She still hadn't seemed to have noticed you. Your breathing quickened, and you let out a small cough, hoping to catch her attention. Bingo! Two bright blue eyes met yours in surprise. This made you notice her tattoos, the colour similar to that of her eyes. It was amazing to see a siren in the flesh.

"Hi Angel," You cooed gently, "please don't be alarmed."

"W-who are you?" She whispered in response, concern evident on her face, "Does my dad know you're here? He's going to be very angry with the both of us... Please leave now."

"No, he doesn't know I'm here," You sighed, keeping your eyes on her beautiful face, "how old are you, Angel?"

Angel looked around the room briefly, then replied softly, "9."

Three years. She had been in this room for three years already, and more still to come if Jack continues to have his way. Your shock at the reply must have been very clear, as Angel spoke again.

"Who are you?"

"I-" You began, trying to formulate a good answer,"I'm your dad's girlfriend."

You settled on short and simple, not expecting her to hop to her feet. Her tattoos glowed faintly and you found yourself mesmerised by them, only to hear the familiar sound of something digistructing around you. Digistructers were all around Helios, so you were very used to the small whirs and beeps they created. You looked around in alarm, watching as two loaderbots were beamed into the room. Their weapons aimed... at you. You looked back at Angel.

"No, Angel, what are you doing?" You exclaimed, jumping up from your seated position, "Stop, what's wrong?"

Angel didn't have time to respond as the large door you had entered through opened and gunshots were fired. The loaders exploded, never even moving an inch from their constructed space. You spun round just as Jack had started to swagger towards you, gun still held tight in his hand yet not aimed at anything. You almost wished he'd shot you then and there because you were dreading the confrontation you were about to receive.

"What about mum?" Angel asked her dad, sadly.

"She's dead, baby, you know that. I loved her very much," Jack muttered through gritted teeth, "and you,"

You squeezed your eyes shut.

"I told you not to come here," He said in a slight growl, "and what did you do?"

"I'm sorry, Jack, I just- you know how I feel." You whispered, your defensive statement useless, "Angel, I'm sorry for barging in, I just wanted to meet you, I thought we could at least be friends..."

Angel watched your eyes well up, tears threatening to spill, as you looked down at your feet to avoid Jack's hard gaze. She felt sorry for you in that moment, becoming calmer about the situation, but her thoughts were filled with memories of her mother. She walked up to the shield, directly in front of you, pressing her hands against it. She had to admit to herself; that even though she knew nothing about you, she was happy to have company that wasn't just her father's - and he rarely visited physically, he usually just made the televisions come to life and graced her with his conversation through technology. Angel felt a little selfish at the thought of using you as a friend just to keep herself from being so alone, but she had decided it was the right thing to do.

"I'd like that," Angel announced, "We should be friends!"

What a change of heart, you were astonished to look up and see her pressed against her cell with a nervous smile on her lips. You gave her a warm smile in return, although it faltered when you heard Jack groan.

"You two are so... ugh! This is so frustrating," He whined, "Two visits a week, don't make me change my mind. Now let's go, cupcake, I was in the middle of a meeting when those two assholes finally decided to tell me you had just freaking waltzed in like you owned the place. I own this place, and now you can sit through the rest of this boring ass meeting with me. Come on."

Jack grabbed your hand, practically dragging you out. You picked up your pace so that you could walk normally, then turned to give Angel a small wave of goodbye with a grin on your face. She matched your grin in return, waving back. You hoped you would see her again soon. 


	2. Chapter Two / Closer Than Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little extra.

"I'm so excited!" Angel squealed, jumping up and down on the spot.

You matched her excitement as you cradled a large crate in your hand, filled to the brim with new books for your step daughter. You had been meeting with Angel for a few months now, and you two were inseparable, even with the stupid barrier between you.

But today? After weeks of begging, you and Angel had convinced him to let the shields down to let you in with her. You had bought along all of your favourite books as a child, some of your own copies and some new, for her to keep and read whenever she liked. You had wanted to deliver them to her in the flesh, and now you could. Jack had given you both a ten minute time limit to be together, then it had to go back to the way it was. Earning such a small amount of time was still a victory to you and Angel. 

"You ready?" Jack's voice came from the speakers, he pretended to yawn on screen as he watched you both nod enthusiastically. 

The orange glow slowly deteriorated from the top of the dome, flaking away into mid-air. As soon as it dissipated, you dropped the box onto the floor beside you as Angel flung herself into your arms. You both hugged each other tightly, like it was the first and last hug you would ever share (which it could be). The smiles on your faces were huge.

"My cheeks hurt from smiling so much! It's so nice to finally hug you!" Angel exclaimed, leaving the hug to rub her cheeks.

You laughed, using your foot to slide the box you had put down into her circle of confinement. Angel sat down in front of it eagerly, pulling you by the hand to sit down next to her. You almost fell at the force of her pulling you, but it made you both giggle as you collapsed onto the floor. 

Jack had turned the screens off so you couldn't see him watching you both interact, but he was reclined in his chair staring intently at the camera footage. He let a small smile creep onto his face as Angel started to pull out the books from your gift package, with her hugging you after reading out the title of each one. He paused the screen on one hug, the amount of love and care in your eyes for his daughter was overwhelming. He took a screenshot, immediately demanding some low level worker to get a printed version framed for his desk. Un-pausing the feed, he continued to watch and secretly extended your time together by another ten minutes.

You both didn't even notice you had extra time. The experience was surreal, something brand new for the both of you. 

"Thank you so much," Angel spoke, in a serious tone, "for everything you've done for me. I really am grateful."

"I know, sweetheart, I know..." You smiled, "Now how about a selfie?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am midway in making some art of Angel and reader selfie for this chapter, I just hope this all made as much sense to you all as it did in my head. I usually write smut and this is fairly new for me! I truly hope you enjoyed it. xo


End file.
